Assessment of air toxicity in the megalopolis of Krasnoyarsk using long-term monitoring of suburban pine forests.

The present study develops the application of suburban forests as bioindicators, with the industrial metropolis of Krasnoyarsk (Central Siberia, Russia) taken as an example. Huge forests, such as those found in large Siberian territories, are climate-forming for the entire planet. Hence, their conservation is essential at both the local and global scales.

Infrared luminescence in bismuth-doped AgCl crystals.

Experimental and computer-modeling studies of the spectral properties of crystalline AgCl doped with metal bismuth or bismuth chloride are performed. The broad near-IR luminescence band in the 0.8-1.

High-risk behaviors and beliefs and knowledge about HIV transmission among school and shelter children in Eastern Europe.

Goal: The goal of this study was to determine sexual behavior, injecting drug use, knowledge and representations of HIV transmission among adolescents in Russia, Georgia, and the Ukraine.

Study: We conducted semistructured interviews on sexual behavior and structured inventories assessing knowledge of HIV transmission, sexual behavior and drug use, and social representations of the epidemic.

Results: Shelter children are more likely than school children to have had sex and injected drugs.

HIV/AIDS among adolescents in Eastern Europe: knowledge of HIV/AIDS, social representations of risk and sexual activity among school children and homeless adolescents in Russia, Georgia and the Ukraine.

The two studies reported here focus on knowledge and representations of HIV/AIDS (study 1) plus sexual behaviour and hedonistic values (study 2) among 14-17-year-old school children and similar aged shelter children. Results indicate that shelter children are more sexually active, less knowledgeable about means of HIV transmission and are more likely to hold stereotyped representations of those most at risk of infection. Russian respondents were the most sexually active, a finding which could at least be partly explained by their higher levels of hedonistic values.

Plasma content of soluble fas antigen in patients with adrenal tumors and tumor-like pathologies.

We compared plasma content of soluble Fas antigen (sFas) in 59 patients with tumors and tumor-like pathologies of the adrenal cortex and medulla and 60 healthy donors (control). The incidence and content of sFas in the plasma from patients with adrenal tumors was significantly higher than in healthy donors. A direct correlation was found between sFas content and patient's age.